Mansfield man takes hostages before killing self

Woman shot in incident

Shawn Schuett's cousin called Wednesday night's deadly hostage situation "a shame on a number of levels."

Police say Schuett, 19, originally of Mansfield, took two employees hostage at the Family Dollar in Willard - shooting one of them - before killing himself.

Willard police Chief Mark Holden said Schuett shot one of the female hostages in the head with a .22-caliber rifle before turning the gun on himself. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Holden did not know the hostage's name or condition at press time.

Police got the call at 5:18 p.m.

"The original report was a man had gone into the store with a rifle," Holden said.

Holden said Schuett had an earlier hostage drop him off at Family Dollar before releasing her. The chief said Schuett held the gun to her chest. Holden said he had not talked to the hostage and didn't know the circumstances.

"Details are scarce," he said.

Holden said Schuett locked the front doors of the store and barricaded himself inside. Shortly after 8 p.m., one of the hostages came out the back door and said Schuett had shot the second hostage and then himself.

"As soon as the hostage came out, the Ohio Highway Patrol's Special Response Team breached the front," Holden said. "They found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound."

Holden said he did not know where Schuett shot himself. He reportedly shot the hostage, who was taken to Mercy Hospital in Willard, in the head. A medical helicopter responded, but it was not known at press time if she had been taken to another facility.

Ontario police negotiators took the lead on talking to Schuett. Holden said he told the teen he was facing only a robbery charge if he would give himself up. Schuett told him he didn't want any money.

His only demand, Holden said, was for Chinese food.

Holden said he did not know if any customers were inside Family Dollar when Schuett entered the store.

Firefighters blocked the road, keeping people at bay. A large crowd gathered in the parking lot at Cok's Laundry Basket.

Among those were some of Schuett's family members. Joseph Reed is Schuett's cousin.

"This is a shame," he said before knowing the outcome. "Yesterday, he texted me and asked if I would take him to get a gun at Ace Hardware.

"I worked second shift Monday and first shift Tuesday. When I got off work, I was pretty tired, so I pretty much blew him off. I didn't think anything of it."

Reed said he didn't think his cousin was "stable enough" to have a gun. Family members at the scene said Schuett had mental issues and struggled with depression.

"People said he was talking off the wall," Reed said. "If I had known that, I would have gone over to see what was up."

Anxious family members listened to Willard police scanner traffic on an iPhone while they waited for word. Rumors were running rampant.

When Schuett's loved ones got the official word of his death, they went past the firefighter to be with Schuett's mother, who was overcome with grief.

Serena Shepherd said Schuett had been staying with her mother, Sharon Reed, in Centerton, near Willard, for about a year.

"Shawn should have been on his medication," Shepherd said. "He's depressed.

"He was good-hearted. He believed in God."

In addition to the Ohio Highway Patrol and Ontario police, Mansfield's Allied Special Operations Response Team, the Huron County Sheriff's Office and the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation assisted Willard police.

Holden said it could be a week or so before the investigation is complete.

"We did everything we could," he said. "It's just unfortunate."

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Mansfield man takes hostages before killing self

Shawn Schuett's cousin called Wednesday night's deadly hostage situation 'a shame on a number of levels.'